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OXFORD, Conn. -- An Oxford man was charged with shooting and killing his neighbor's cat because he thought it was a stray, according to state police.

State police said that on Sunday, 48-year-old Craig Middendorf was annoyed at what he believed was a stray cat, so he shot and killed it in his backyard with a .22 caliber rifle. The cat ended up belonging to a neighbor, who lived next to Middendorf in a duplex on Roosevelt Drive, police said.

Middendorf was charged with unlawful discharge of firearms, cruelty to animals and first-degree reckless endangerment. He was released on a $2,500 bond and will appear in court on Feb. 5. Police said that Middendorf's rifle was seized, and that he has no other firearms.